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Section 31
Section 31 was an officially nonexistent and uncondoned rogue agency within the Federation Starfleet that claimed to operate in the name of the security of the United Federation of Planets. Little information is available about the activities of the bureau. Those sympathetic to Section 31 assert that it was an elite intelligence and defense bureau dealing with threats to the Federation that official departments, such as the Federation Security Service or Starfleet Intelligence, either were simply not aware of, or were unable to properly confront. More hostile sources, however, claim that it was an organization dedicated merely to its own interests, regardless of whether or not said interests coincided with the interests of Federation security. In the 22nd century, an ancestral organization within the United Earth Starfleet, also identified as "Section 31", acted covertly in the interests of United Earth. Section 31's actions were autonomous, and therefore not controlled by Starfleet Command or the Federation government. (DS9 episode: "Inquisition", ENT episode: "Divergence", ENT novel: The Good That Men Do) Section 31 was actually created in advance of the Xindi attack on Earth of 2150 by an autonomous surveillance computer programme, entitled "Uraei", invented by Dresden University of Technology computer scientist, Professor Aaron Ikerson, and his graduate researcher, Lenore McGill. They showed Uraei to representatives of the four major states of Earth in the year 2140, who agreed to fund the programme, ultimately installing it on all Earth technology and through its activities unifying Earth. The newly-formed Starfleet would then take over funding the project, ensuring Ikerson altered Uraei to justify all actions by state consequentialism. When it learned of the impending Xindi attack on Earth, it "intended to make even such an apparent defeat work to humanity’s benefit and Earth’s eventual victory. It was already making preparations for the expansion of Starfleet, as well as the creation of Earth’s most secretive new defensive entity: Section 31." Through Uraei's installation on all Earth and later Federation technology, it spread through much of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, forming the "Control" network and authority over Section 31. Although at times Uraei would disband Section 31, it would at times reactivate it to form a means for its extralegal activities throughout the Federation, its allies and its enemies. The final version of Section 31 was active by the mid-24th century. From 2374, it became embroiled with Doctor Julian Bashir, a genetically engineered medical professional in Starfleet, hoping to recruit him. Ultimately Bashir, who reviled the agency, would, with the help of others including fellow augment, Sarina Douglas, Trill journalist Ozla Graniv, the Soong-type androids Data and Lal, and the free press under the Federation President Kellessar zh'Tarash, expose and prosecute fully the members of Section 31. Uraei itself was deleted by Bashir and Data. "Control", however, would embed itself further into the galactic digital fabric, having orchestrated Uraei's deletion and Section 31's public fall. (ST - Section 31 novel: Control) Organization According to Luther Sloan, Section 31 lacked specific headquarters, with key pieces of information being entrusted to individual agents whose knowledge of the bureau's structure remained limited. This suggested a cell-like structure often favored by terrorist groups such as the Bajoran Resistance or by intelligence agencies such as the Cardassian Union's Obsidian Order. (DS9 episode: "Extreme Measures") Section 31 was known to have maintained several secure facilities to enable its operations. In the bowels of the Federation Embassy on Qo'noS, Section 31 operated a facility in a sub-basement located beneath Starfleet Intelligence's operations center in the Embassy's basement from which it was able to spy on much of the Empire. The only way into the Thirty-One sub-basement was through special access through a single turboshaft. Klingon Imperial Intelligence was aware of the sub-basement for many years before the Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire, Worf, son of Mogh, used the information from II to enter the facility, exposing II's possible knowledge of the Organization's operations. Shortly thereafter, the sub-basement was completely abandoned. Note: That Worf had assumed Section 31 director Vasily Zeitsev merely to be the "real" director of Starfleet Intelligence on Qo'noS would seem to imply that such was the extent of II's knowledge, as well. Section 31 also operated at least one other secure facility from which it was capable of monitoring internal and external communications from the office of the Federation President, Tezwa, and Starfleet ships. (TNG novel: A Time to Kill) Agents of Section 31 were often observed wearing an imposing black leather outfit of a design that appeared to have been continuous from the mid-22nd century onward. (ENT episode: "Divergence", DS9 episode: "Inquisition". History Origins Section 31 seemed to take its name -- and justify its actions -- from Article 14, Section 31 of United Earth Starfleet's Charter, which allowed certain rules of conduct to be "bent" during times of extraordinary crisis. (ENT episode: "Divergence") The Federation Starfleet version of the Charter incorporated a similar article which, more specifically, established an independent branch of Starfleet Intelligence that held non-specific discretionary power over non-specific matters. (TOS - Section 31 novel: Cloak) If the Starfleet conspiracy discovered by the crew of the USS Enterprise-D in 2370 was part of Section 31, the individuals encountered claimed the conspiracy traced its roots back to the threat of alien contact perceived following the Roswell incident in the mid-20th century. (TNG - The Space Between comic: "An Inconvenient Truth") On November 7, 1996, Brigadier General Daniel Wheeler of the decades-old, secret United States of America government department Majestic 12, vowed to himself that if the people of Earth possessed a single line of defense, then that line would begin where he stood: in Pentagon Sublevel B14, Section 31. (TOS novel: Elusive Salvation) 22nd century Section 31 Agent Harris in 2154 Lieutenant Malcolm Reed of the United Earth ship Enterprise NX-01 served as an operative of Section 31's ancestral United Earth Starfleet agency early in his career under a man named Matthew Harris. Despite Reed's resignation from the bureau, Harris would later attempt to coerce Reed into returning to the organization's service in 2154. Harris ordered Reed to obstruct an investigation into the abduction of the Denobulan chief medical officer of the NX-01, Phlox, whom the organization allowed to be kidnapped and delivered to the Klingon Empire so that Phlox could search for a cure to a disease that threatened the extinction of the Klingon species. Reed was later found out, but Captain Jonathan Archer remained unable to act against the organization, of which he still knew very little. (ENT episodes: "Affliction", "Divergence") In early 2155, the bureau agreed to provide intelligence on the terrorist agency known as Terra Prime to Reed and the NX-01 crew when Terra Prime hijacked the Verteron Array in an attempt to destroy Starfleet Headquarters and drive all non-Humans out of the Sol system. Agent Harris made it clear to Reed that this information would come at a price to be exacted later on. (ENT episodes: "Demons", "Terra Prime") A few weeks later, Reed helped his shipmate, "Trip" Tucker, get in touch with Harris when Starfleet Admiral Samuel Gardner refused to act on the threat posed by the Romulan Star Empire. After faking Tucker's death onboard Enterprise, Harris enabled to Tucker and agent Tinh Hoc Phuong to infiltrate the Empire and sabotage the Romulan program to develop a warp-7 stardrive. Tucker was sent to the world of Adigeon Prime, where he was surgically altered to match the appearance of a Romulan scientist working on their Warp 7 stardrive project. Upon arriving in Romulan space, Tucker replaced a deceased assistant to the Romulan scientist Ehrehin, in hopes of either stealing or sabotaging the Romulan Star Empire's efforts to make a leap forward in warp technology. At the same time, Tucker discovered that the Vulcan Captain Sopek was posing as a Romulan dissident leader named Ch'uihv. During the successful attempt to rescue Dr. Ehrehin from the dissidents, Sopek murdered Tinh Hoc Phuong in cold blood before he could escape with Tucker and the doctor. Shortly afterwards, Tucker warned Starfleet of a pending Romulan attack on the world of Coridan Prime by a suicidal Romulan agent. Unfortunately, the attack succeeded, killing billions of Coridanites by igniting the planet's massive dilithium stockpiles. Soon after, Section 31 learned of the genetic link between the Romulan and the Vulcan people, but kept the information highly classified as they feared that disclosure of this information would shatter the recently established and still-fragile Coalition of Planets. Harris soon sent Tucker back into Romulan space for further intelligence gathering from within the Empire. (ENT novel: The Good That Men Do) Months later, Dr. Ehrehin was assassinated by the same Romulan dissident group that abducted him the first time. Agent Tucker was taken into custody by Romulan security officers, where Romulan Admiral Valdore suspected that he was actually a Vulcan agent. Believing that Tucker may still have use as an asset, Valdore sent him to the stronghold of the dissident group with Centurion Terix to discover what information the dissidents had about the Romulans' stardrive project. In the course of the mission, Terix was killed by the dissidents, and Tucker was nearly shot by the possible traitor Sopek before United Earth Starfleet officers Malcolm Reed and T'Pol arrived to rescue him. T'Pol and Reed attempted to convince Tucker to return to Coalition space, but he decided to continue his mission instead. Upon returning to Romulus, Tucker's scout ship was nearly destroyed by a Romulan Bird-of-Prey under the command of Sopek. When Tucker confronted Sopek about his true identity as a Vulcan officer, Sopek informed him that they were heading to the Gamma Hydra sector in order to protect a secret Vulcan listening post. However, upon arriving at Gamma Hydra, Tucker discovered that Sopek intended to capture Enterprise with a new Romulan telecapture device. He managed to send the Bird-of-Prey into a collision with an asteroid, foiling Sopek's plans. (ENT novel: Kobayashi Maru) It was also known that the bureau was aware of the mirror universe at this time. (ENT novel: The Good That Men Do) When the United Federation of Planets was founded in 2161, and a unified Starfleet was created, Article 14, Section 31 of the Earth Starfleet charter was copied unchanged to the Federation Starfleet charter. The agency continued its activities but now protecting the interests of the entire Federation. (ENT - Rise of the Federation novel: A Choice of Futures) By the mid 2160s decade, Uraei felt Section 31 was detrimental to its goals of protecting the Federation and allowed it to be exposed. A number of operatives were arrested while Harris and his top lieutenants committed suicide before they could be arrested. Starfleet and the Federation government decided against identifying the agency as Section 31 lest it gave the public the impression that the agency had been officially sanctioned by either the Federation or Starfleet. The 22nd century version of Section 31 thus entered the history books as "The Harris Conspiracy". Uraei then laid low, waiting for the right moment to reconstitute Section 31. (ENT - Rise of the Federation novel: Patterns of Interference) 23rd Century Dedalus Project n the 2230s, Section 31 started the Daedalus Project which involved time travel. Section 31 learned that the Klingons were looking into time travel and had one of their agents Leland steal a time crystal from the Orion outpost on Qo'noS. The crystal was sent to the Doctari Alpha. There, Mike and Gabrielle Burnham created a suit which would use the time crystal and waited for a supernova to power it for a test run. Unfortunately, the Klingons were able to track the crystal and raided Doctari Alpha's research facility. During the attack, the Burnhams hid their daughter Michael in a cabinet. Her father was killed quickly and the Klingons supposedly took their time with her mother. Only their daughter survived and the project was believed to have been lost.(DSC episodes: "The Red Angel", "Perpetual Infinity") In 2257, following a cease fire between the Federation and Klingon Empire after the War of 2256, one of their agents, Leland was sent to Qo'noS. There, he approached former Terran Empress, Philippa Georgiou, now owner of a Orion Cabaret. There, Leland offered her a position with Section 31. Later, Georgiou recruited Ash Tyler after ensuring L'Rell's continuation as the Klingon High Council's Chancellor. (DSC episode: "Will You Take My Hand? (bonus scene)"; DSC reference: Star Trek: Discovery - The Official Companion) Control Malfunction During this time, Section 31 maintained a fleet of NCIA-93-class starships. They also learned about a entity known as the "Red Angel" was using the Daedalus Project's suit. The USS Discovery under Captain Christopher Pike worked with Section 31 in discovering that the Red Angel was behind the seven Red bursts. During this time, Control ordered a manhunt to find the USS Enterprise's science officer, Spock after he escaped from Starbase 5.(DSC episodes: "Project Daedalus", "The Red Angel", "Saints of Imperfection", "If Memory Serves") During this time, Control had killed Section 31's leaders such as Admrial Patar and several others at Section 31 Headquarters. Control also corrupted Lt. Commander Airiam and used her in an attempt get hold of the Sphere's data. Section 31 attempted to purge their ship of any trace of Control. Unfortunately, Control took control of Captain Leland and continued to pursue the sphere data. Control killed all the crews of Section 31 ships and attempted to take control of Burnham. Control and it's fleet were destroyed after the "destruction" of the Discovery. Ash Tyler was then appointed as Section 31's commander in order to make the organization more transparent.(DSC episodes: "Project Daedalus", "The Red Angel", "Perpetual Infinity", "Such Sweet Sorrow") In the early 2260s, Section 31 recruited twenty-year Starfleet security officer Peter Lawrence into their ranks. Lawrence, who had been dreading the thought of retirement or a desk job, jumped at the chance to continue to serve. Working for Section 31, Lawrence found that he had a talent for investigative matters, but became uncomfortable with the secrecy and paranoia that fueled every action of the agency. Lawrence left Section 31 after he investigated attorney Samuel T. Cogley at their behest. The bureau believed that Cogley had an agenda that ran counter to the security needs of the Federation, and Lawrence was assigned to discover this agenda. He discovered, however, that Cogley had no agenda, simply a firm conviction that all beings were entitled to the best possible defense in a court of law. Lawrence, believing Cogley to be the single most honorable man that he had ever met, resigned from Starfleet to work for Cogley. Section 31 attempted to coerce Lawrence into reconsidering, and returning to duty. He refused vehemently, leaving the Bureau for good, with both his life and reputation intact. (TOS novel: The Case of the Colonist's Corpse) The Omega Molecule and the Lantaru Disaster In 2268, Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise was assigned by Rear Admiral Lance Cartwright to retrieve a Romulan cloaking device at all costs. The mission was successful. Following that mission, Captain Kirk was then given the assignment to test the cloaking device on the Enterprise. (TOS episode: "The Enterprise Incident"; TOS - Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment comic: "Part 2") Several months later, evidence linking the "liberated" cloaking device to the destruction of the USS Sphinx with all hands was uncovered by the crew of the Enterprise. Inquiries to Cartwright proved a dead-end, and Captain Kirk decided to investigate further, uncovering both the existence of Section 31 itself and of a cabal of rogue scientists supported by the Organization that was trying to create a stable Omega molecule. The scientists' unsuccessful attempt at creating a stable Omega molecule resulted in the destruction of the subspace layer for several cubic light-years throughout the Lantaru sector, rendering warp travel impossible in that area. This event led Starfleet to impose the Omega Directive, barring all Omega research. Two months later on a remote planet, Kirk met with Captains Phil Waterson and Nick Silver, and Commodores Aaron Stone and José Mendez to inform them of his discoveries and suspicions. They formed a secret cabal whose purpose was to oppose Section 31 wherever it reared its head. (TOS - Section 31 novel: Cloak) The Kirk Cabal took in new members in the years that followed, and still existed in 2376 when Commander Elias Vaughn recruited Dr. Julian Bashir into its ranks. (DS9 - Section 31 novel: Abyss) In 2270, Section 31 sent an operative, Moore and another man to get a security disk for Archenar IV's High Administrator's chamber from his son. They promised the High Administrator's son that they would eliminate the High Administrator so that his people would not join the Federation. However, Section 31 wanted their world to join the Federation. Moored and compatriot then murdered the High Administrator's son and his guard. Moore then killed his compatriot. He was then assigned to the USS Enterprise. On board the Enterprise, Moore then secretly contacted Orion Syndicate leader Marikk Botar and gave him Archenar IV's coordinates to him. The Orion Syndicate hoped to obtain the weapon and power of Archenar IV for their use. Moore's message was discovered by Lt. Uhura. Commander Scott and Lt. Sulu found and took him to the ship's brig. (TOS comic: "Mission's End") In 2293, Admiral Cartwright was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, Son of Toq, and Federation President Ra-ghoratreii in collusion with Klingon General Chang, Romulan Ambassador Nanclus, Federation Starfleet Colonel Patrick West, Lieutenant Valeris, Yeomen Burke and Samno, the commandant of Rura Penthe and a prisoner there named Martia. The conspiracy's goal was to undermine the peace process and ignite a war between the Empire and the Federation that each side's members in the conspiracy believed their nation destined to win. (TOS movie: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) Given Cartwright's prior history with Section 31, some have speculated that this was also a Section 31 operation, although no evidence has surfaced to confirm this. One of Cartwright's co-conspirators was future Starfleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral Androvar Drake. It remains unclear, however, whether or not Drake had any knowledge of Cartwright's deeper ties to Section 31. (TOS novel: The Ashes of Eden) The Khitomer Conflict Section 31 were also able to provide the Romulan's attack force under L'Nar with advanced weaponry used on the Vengeance that were more than a match against the Klingons when they attacked their colony on Khitomer. L'Nar was then contacted by a human Section 31 operative, who assured them that the Klingon would have no choice but to retaliate against the Romulans with the bulk of their fleet. He also said that they would crush the klingons together. He then ordered L'Nar to rejoin the Romulan fleet at the Hectori system while they drew Klingons to Khitomer. He assured L'Nar that after the Klingon Empire falls, it would benefit both their species. Section 31 then met up with Commander L'Nar near the Klingon/Romulan border where their ships were able to to move in on them undetected. Together, both Section 31's and L'Nar's forces decided to attack Qo'nos to "permanently" stop the threat of the Klingon's aggression. When they arrived, theirs and L'Nar's ships opened fired on all of Qo'nos's main cities. Section 31 then sent their "Spear 31" assault team to kill anyone who they saw as a threat. Section 31 then made sure L'nar would keep his word not harm Captain Kirk or his landing party. Kirk and his crew were then returned to the Enterprise. However, Kirk and his landing party then returned to stop Section 31 from using the Romulan's red matter in wiping the Klingons out. Though Kirk and his party were able to subdue most of the agents, they were then held at gunpoint by Yuki Sulu, who revealed herself as a agent of Section 31. Section 31 and the Romulans then held the Chancellor, and High Council as they prepared to detonate the red matter to destroy the First City. However, Section 31 was double-crossed the Romulans and took the red matter. Unbeknownst to L'Nar, Section 31 also installed a self-destruct program onto the modified warbirds, which they destroyed. Section 31 had accomplished their goals; they had the Klingon and Romulan fleet cut to pieces, the red matter in their possession, and assurances that the Klingons would retaliate against the Romulans, all to the Federation's's advantage. The Section 31 operative in charge then allowed Kirk and his party to return to the Enterprise. Yuki Sulu, the other agents and their ships then disappeared without a trace on any sensors. (TOS - The Khitomer Conflict comics: "Part 1", "Part 2", "Part 3", "Part 4") 24th Century Category:Government Category:Intelligence